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NBC

"The SOP for actions against a nuclear attack was sent to company/team commanders but was not well understood by soldiers under their command. Slice units did not comply with TF SOP regarding MOPP .... Most of the TF elements did not employ the M8 Automatic Chemical Agent Alarm nor did they employ M8/M9 Chemical Agent Detection Paper following a suspected chemical attack. Treating chemical agent casualties with incorrect first-aid measures made matters worse. Marking of contaminated areas after NBC attacks was not done by most of the TF elements. The TF experienced greater NBC casualties than necessary."

"All task force and air defense elements conduct tactical operations at the NTC in the same combat environment they will be expected to fight in during the next war. Observations from the NTC indicate that the overall performance of task force elements responsible for active and passive air defense measures is weak. Evaluations conducted at the NTC have also shown that task forces and air defense personnel are overwhelmingly weak in the planning and execution of air defense doctrinal standards."

NTC Lessons Learned Analysis:

Standardized tactical SOPs throughout the division establish common procedures during combined arms operations. Repetitive combined arms training ensures familiarity with these SOPs. This reduces the difficulties normally experienced by units during combined arms exercises.

Reporting Procedures (Commander's Comments):

"....Many of the chemical attacks initiated against the task force during this exercise were not reported to the brigade .... several reports were improperly formatted while others contained erroneous information .... a task force failed to heed information given to it concerning a contaminated area .... the unit lost an entire company team to the effects of chemical contamination."

"Too often NBC 1 (chemical) reports are forwarded too late, are prepared but not forwarded, or clutter the task force command net disrupting command and control.

"....The timely submission of accurate reports must be emphasized at all levels .... TOC officers and NCOs must be schooled on the NBC reporting system. A good working knowledge of these reports will give all concerned the ability to recognize critical data which is of immediate tactical concern.... this will greatly enhance the commander's ability to make accurate and timely assessments of the tactical situation and courses of action."

"On several occasions, the combat trains of both task forces were unable to pass vital NBC related information over the operations net .... they were invariably required to use the ADMIN/LOG net as the primary means for passing all NBC related information. The use of this net for passing such information does not violate published doctrine. However, most NBC reports are extremely time-sensitive .... The use of the ADMIN/LOG net for NBC reporting will.... insure that any such information will reach the commander too late to be of any operational (consequence) ....whenever possible, NBC reports should be sent over the operations net .... (to) ensure timely application of this data to the overall tactical situation. Other nets and alternate means of communication should be used as back-ups."

NTC Lessons Learned Analysis:

A recommended technique to preclude cluttering the command net is for only one NBC 1 report to be forwarded: the first unit which transmits. All other stations quickly acknowledge the NBC 1 report and indicate whether or not they are also under attack. If a unit is being subjected to attack by an agent other than that indicated in the initial NBC 1 report, that unit will also render the NBC 1 (chemical) report. The TF TOC is thus given the full extent of the chemical attack without the command net being cluttered with numerous NBC 1 (chemical) reports.

Gunnery Under NBC Conditions (Commander's Comments):

"Practice for the dirty battlefield. Target acquisition, engagement under NBC conditions, requires special effort and training."

NTC Lessons Learned Analysis:

The Soviets heavily obscure the battlefield. Bi-spectual obscurants, as well as unfavorable climatic conditions, will severely degrade even thermal sights. Gunners and combat observation lasing teams (COLTs) must practice target acquisition, tracking and engagement through "windows" in obscuration. Such training can be accomplished at home station training areas using remotely triggered smoke grenades, smoke pots or smoke generators. Realism can be enhanced by creating force-on-force scenarios for companies and platoons and configuring participating elements with locally available MILES equipment.

NBC Warning to Army Aviation (Commander's Comments):

"Elements of the attack helicopter platoon were eliminated from the problem on numerous occasions because of flying into NBC contaminated areas. The aviators were not getting the information they needed to avoid these areas. The aviators do not have the capability to plot an NBC 1 report on their maps .... while flying. They need to know, by area or grid square,which areas to avoid flying through. A headquarters element needs to plot NBC information and relay it to aviators in the area...."

NTC Lessons Learned Analysis:

The aviation LNO is the critical link in warning army aviation at the brigadeTOC. The NBC 1 (chemical) must be rapidly disseminated to all staff sections/LNOs so that the information can be cross-leveled with supporting units.

One technique the TOC can use to warn pilots is to identify prominent terrain features such as ridge lines, roads, or rivers as boundaries across which they are not to fly. This is similar to the use of terrain features which are easily identifiable from the air as informal airspace coordination areas (ACAs) to control aircraft flights with regard to fire support systems.

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Air Defense